The results are an improvement for Trump, who
trailed Cruz 24 percent to 28 percent in the same poll less than three
weeks ago....

The Iowa survey of 3,040 adults was conducted January 24 through
January 26, 2016. The margin of error for 450 likely Republican
caucus-goers is +/- 4.6 percentage points. The margin of error for 426
likely Democratic caucus-goers is +/- 4.7 percentage points."...Image above from NBC News

It’s
a historic change in voter behavior. The Democratic and Republican
parties have dominated American politics since the mid-1850s. They grew
and prospered as inclusive coalitions that tolerated diverse views for
the sake of winning elections and then consolidating power....

“Americans’ attachment to the two major political
parties in recent years is arguably the weakest Gallup has recorded
since the advent of its polls,” Gallup reported in January.

Just
29 percent called themselves Democrats last year, it found, “making it
safe to conclude that the current (number) is also the low point in
Gallup polling history.” Republican loyalty was only 1 percentage point
above its recent low of 25 percent three years ago. The bloc of independents reached 40 percent in 2011, and it has stayed at or above that level ever since.

Most
indifferent to parties: young Americans. Nearly half the millennials
identified as independents in 2014, Pew found, more than the combined
total of those willing to be called either Democrats or Republicans.

“I
never want to write down that I’m a Republican,” said Rebecca Sorensen,
a sophomore at Penn State. She leans Republican but is reluctant to
openly identify with the party because she supports abortion rights.

Historically, children adopted their parents’ political views, including identification with the two major parties. Not anymore.

Millennials get information from sources other than from family
dinners, neighbors or campaign brochures. If something piques their
interest, they turn to Twitter, text messaging, The Skimm and other
modern forms of instant communication.

“If I want to know more, I Google it,” said Jayla Akers, a sophomore at Penn State University.

They
gerrymander congressional districts to maximize their chances so that
election after election only a handful of House of Representatives races
are true contests. Of the House’s 435 seats, 402 incumbents are
considered safe bets for re-election this year, said the nonpartisan Rothenberg and Gonzales Political Report....

It’s a far cry from freedom from party or faction that the Founding Fathers envisioned.

Republicans once had a strong bloc of abortion rights supporters, for example, but in 1976 the party formally included in its platform support for a constitutional amendment “to restore protection of the right to life for unborn children.” It’s now unmistakably the anti-abortion party....

Democrats also were critical
of their own tactics....“It’s true that today’s multifaceted political landscape
changes the footprint of national parties,” said Democratic Chairwoman
Debbie Wasserman Schultz.But she noted that “in the primaries, we
set the rules for the nomination and nothing can replace the unique
ability of the national parties to effectively organize and mobilize
voters,” and their role in the general election is so detailed it
“cannot be replicated externally.”

Take Freedom Partners, an organization sponsored by brothers Charles and David Koch of Wichita, Kan. Last year, the group committed to spend $889 million on politics and policy in 2015 and 2016....

And
the Koch network does more than just spend money. Twice each year it
hosts about 400 executives, who pay dues of $100,000 each, for meetings
on politics and policies....

Other alternatives to the parties also are gearing up. In
that world, everyday voters ask, how can they ever be heard? Not
through the Republican or Democrats parties, say increasing numbers of
voters.